Evaluating Field-Based Experiences in Teacher Education

Abstract

Contemporary descriptions of the uses and abuses of field experiences in the preservice education of teachers abound. These are found in historical documentations of the role of student teaching and field experiences in teacher education (Mead, 1930; Curtis & Andrews, 1954; Stratemeyer & Lindsey, 1958; and Andrews, 1964) and from resources cited in the current literature. A recent Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) search (Zimpher, 1987) generated 1,852 entries from 1966 to the present from the combined categories of “student teaching” and “field experiences.” A series of “state of the art” reviews of field experiences and student teaching also informs our understanding of both the nature of these experiences and of how teacher educators have studied these experiences. A review of these analyses provides a brief overview of issues and concerns related to field experience. This chapter offers recommendations regarding the organization and offering of programs of field experience in teacher education and a model for designing appropriate evaluation mechanisms for field experiences appropriate to the Center for Teacher Education Evaluation’s Accreditation Plus Model.